Good morning, Reader!
Herein lies the tale of work carried out on 04/03/17, submitted by Trousers himself. Enjoy!
Potter
“Thin on the ground number wise due to holidays, running errands for fellow preservationists and most importantly running errands for us but I was still able to get a fair amount done. We have received a kind (and large) donation of lighting inverters but were not told if they were any good or not so the first job this morning was to set about testing them to ensure they were suitable for our use. Success! One was tried in the B compartment of 76262 and it worked perfectly. We now have full lighting in this end.
As tempted as I was to carry on through the unit and get more lights working I wanted to focus on what I’d really come down to do. That was to get started on the cabs; after all we have to keep the driver contingent of the group happy.
(Note: If you want to keep drivers happy, Steve, the best methods are unlimited tea, good biscuits, bacon sandwiches, a sympathetic ear for any whinging and working days of less than 4 hours. And a pay rise every other week – Potter)
Buckie has asked me to start in 76262 due to there being some outstanding jobs in the other end of the unit. Nothing hampers work in a confined space like having to six-foot fitters having to climb over each other! A quick internal inspection showed that the years of outside storage hasn’t been kind to the old girl. Panels requiring replacement were under the cab side windows (both sides), the panel above the window on the driver’s side and the bottom of the windscreen on the driver’s side. The rest of the panels are OK, but they require rubbing down and a lick of paint.
I started by removing the panel below the window on the secondman’s side of the cab. As expected the screws didn’t want to move so some brute force and ignorance was employed (Sophisticated stuff – Potter) and the panel removed. The screws will be dealt with later! The frame at the floor level was found to be rotten so what little was left was removed.
Next I took the panel above the drivers side cab window out. This would be the most complex panel to replace due to it having the fresh air vent in the middle of it. Once the screws were removed from the trim the panel was removed in two pieces due to one end being stuck fast. Time to put some fresh wood in. I set to cutting and trimming a new panel to fit nicely in the gap.
After some more trimming, cutting and filing the fresh air vent was refitted in exactly the same place; thanks to using the old panel as a template. While the fresh air vent was out I gave it a good clean up; it was full of years of dust and dirt.
The panel was refitted and some small bits of trim cut to replace the rotten ones in the corner. These will need to be fitted on my next visit. It will require some undercoat and then a coat of Opaline Green paint when the rest of the cab is painted but so far so good. The long road of restoring the cabs has been started.
Until next time, Trousers signing out!”
And so the work goes on!